Survivors of Winter
by Better If You Didn't Know
Summary: Kelia's seen a lot in her long lifetime, even if her looks don't tell the story. That's why she and her pack were avoiding the humans to begin with. But now with this new young wolf to look after, she'll have to face them. At least for a little while if it means getting the pup well. It could go great! But you know what they say. Humans will be humans...
1. Chapter 1

The winter had been especially cold, even for a wolf. Normally that wouldn't be a problem. They slept all curled together, they went on runs during the day, and she made sure all of her wolves were fed and healthy. They would have been able to spend the entire winter deep in the forests, without humans, peacefully. But the little wolf they'd stumbled across was in an entirely different situation.

She was so small, underfed, and found naked in the middle of the woods under inches of snow at that. One of the adult wolves had tripped over her at full speed. Surprisingly, nothing had been broken. She was shivering, running a fever, and delirious. She would not be able to stay in the caves like they'd planned. She would need actual shelter, and soft, cooked foods. Kelia would have to do something she didn't often want or like to do. She was going to have to deal with the worst kind of humans: royals.

xXx

None of her wolves had liked the idea of heading to a human castle. They knew humans had different practices and beliefs than wolves and they knew their queen, Kelia, would be treated with less respect than they were accustomed to giving her and seeing her receive. Not only because of her status as a shifter, but also because of the color of her skin. The wolves were not colorblind. They knew their queen had wood colored skin, but she had loved them, raised most of them when she was still a child herself, and cared for them when no one else would. So, they didn't care, and they didn't want to stand for anyone giving her any less respect than she deserved.

"Alexander, Xavier," Kelia called from the back of the large cave they'd all been calling home, "go to the keeper, get some money, and then get us all some clothes. I'm going to need something a little more…notable than the rest. You do remember how money works, right?"

Both males, Alexander a little taller and more muscled than Xavier, nodded quickly but their eyes didn't leave their queen who currently had the small child in her arms, eyes glowing their unique shade of deep purple as she whispered words of encouragement. Without looking up she insisted that they hurry, and they scurried away without another word. The other thirteen wolves sat near the cave entrance, instincts telling them to protect while their common sense told them to keep their distance. Their alpha needed time alone with the little wolf. She was already small, and sick. Overwhelming her would do no good.

After a few moments, Kelia laid the girl down on some furs, covered her with a few more and walked over to address the rest of her pack. It was just a simple rundown. They needed to know how to act in the presence of the mortals. Not to say that wolves weren't mortal, just less mortal than the humans. It was a quick speech: no growling, no clawing, no flashing eyes, no challenging. They were weak and uneducated in the most important ways of life. It wasn't their fault…per se. The only time for action was in case of emergency. This wasn't going to be impossible, but it wouldn't be easy the first time around. Kelia hadn't been around human royals since the last time they'd tried to sell her into slavery. She was concerned about how she would act as well.

Humans tended to be disrespectful and dismissive of those that were different. Wolves fight and kill for less. Money, fame, possessions didn't matter. Only respect, family, and reputation were worth putting time and effort into. So, when people refused to give you or your family respect, insulted your reputation, or dismissed your power, there would be blood. Not this time though. They'd have to bite their tongues and let Kelia, Alexander, and Xavier do all the talking. The little girl's life depended on it.

xXx

They'd all been clothed in rather basic garments, pants, shirts, skirts, a simple gown for the girl. Kelia, however, had been fully donned in petticoat, corset, slip, and gown. She'd had to hold it up unreasonably high to make sure it wasn't ruined by the leaves, snow, and dirt of the forest floor. There was no running in it without wearing herself down, so she had to walk behind the rest of the pack. At least she could use all the extra fabric too keep the girl warm while she carried her so that the jostling of running wouldn't make her even more sick. It took unreasonably long, compared to what they were used to, to reach the castle and that was only the beginning of the struggle.

"Announce yourself!"

The pack stopped completely at the instructions the guards that were walking towards them with hands resting on the hilts of their swords. They were alert but did their best to remain non-threatening. There was a slight shuffle, causing the guards to stiffen, as Kelia worked her way to the front of the group, holding the child.

"I request an audience with the king and queen." Kelia announced.

The guards stared at her long. She was young, but finely dressed, and requesting a royal audience. Not to mention she spoke oddly. Those around her however were simply peasants, ordinary men and women. There was no protocol for this but letting a large group of commoners into the castle with no papers to indicate who they were wasn't a very good idea.

"On what grounds?" One of the guards stepped forward.

"Royal ones." Kelia responded with a roll of her eyes.

"Do you possess a writ?" The other guard asked calmly.

"No." Kelia cursed herself for not thinking of telling Alexander and Xavier to grab parchment and ink. "It's an emergency. I didn't have time."

"We cannot let you into the castle without some sort of-"

Xavier cut the guard off, walking up to present a golden seal. The guard took it in hand. He didn't recognize it but at the very least it was real gold and that meant something though he didn't know what. He nodded slowly and turned to speak the other guard. They would let them in but be sure to get a group of guards to escort the group to the throne room. Kelia held in a breath of relief at Xavier's brilliance. She'd received it so long ago that she'd honestly forgotten about that seal. She had no idea where he'd been keeping it.

She decided to ponder about other things on her long walk down to the throne room. Her wolves were awed by the large castle. Their eyes were drawn to the tapestries, large windows, high ceilings, and expensive decorations strewn casually about. She'd been with most of them since they were children and none of them had come from particularly lavish backgrounds. Alex and Xavier had had a taste of that lifestyle, but that was long ago. Kelia felt a sliver of guilt about their conditions. They weren't hungry and they were sheltered but it was meager. The sliver of guilt was chased away by the knowledge of what humans did to those that were different. They were happy with meager and away from the cruel and judgmental.

Eventually they stood in front of large doors. Kelia didn't look too hard at them. She was too busy staring at the little girl in her arms and thinking of all the things she'd do to make sure the little one would never feel pain again. She had to do this right. She couldn't risk pissing them off. The last time she'd seen them she could only stand in their presence for a few moments before the King had managed to insult her and impose himself on her…thrice. She didn't destroy his castle and kill his guards, to her surprise. She just took a deep breath and walked out of the ball.

The doors opened. Kelia took a deep breath similar to the one she'd taken before and plastered a soft smile upon her face. She walked into the room, her wolves shuffling silently behind her. They were practically on top of each other attempting to stand at her back. They nearly ran into her when she stopped abruptly. Kelia's jaw wasn't hanging on the floor but only from sheer force of will.

"Is something wrong?" The queen, the brunette queen (not the blonde that Kelia remembered), asked after the awkward silence. Her voice was patient and seemingly nonviolent but the queen that Kelia remembered had thorns hidden skillfully. Kelia's eyes traveled to the king, who was now blonde. How long had they been in the caves?

"Forgive me," Kelia spoke cautiously before bowing and subtly suggesting that her wolves do the same, "you weren't the king and queen I was expecting." Her wolves were clumsy in their bows, but they were calm and sincere. That was what mattered.

"No?" The king spoke with a side glance to his wife.

"Last I was here…the queen was blonde." Kelia admitted.

"My mother." The king looked at Kelia suspiciously. "She's now imprisoned, and the old king is dead. For some time now…"

"Well…" Kelia didn't quite know how to follow that. "I think I met you briefly. When you were a child. The first time I was here."

"You are but a child yourself." The queen reminded Kelia. The alpha had almost forgotten what she looked like to everyone else. When was the last time she'd looked in a mirror? She looked only but twelve maybe. That would make this slightly harder.

"Looks can be deceiving." Kelia simplified. A well timed coughed from the sick pup allowed the perfect change of topic. "Speaking of children, I would like a favor."

"A favor?" The king began fiddling the arm of his throne. "Who are you exactly to request favors from the king and queen?"

Xavier took a step forward and so did the guards of the castle in a shuffle of metal. The wolves moved in front of Kelia instantly. No one's eyes were flashing, or at least Kelia had assumed none of them were since the guards hadn't screamed witchcraft, but it would only be a matter of time before claws were out if the hostility didn't decrease.

"Your majesties," Xavier offered a near-perfect bow and extended the hand with the seal in it. The queen made a tentative gesture and a guard came to collect it from him. The two examined it for a minute. Clearly neither recognized it but they couldn't deny that it seemed authentic.

"Hold onto it." Kelia offered. "In the meantime, this pu-poor child is sick. I would appreciate it greatly if we could have a room and some soup or soft foods." The king and queen exchanged more looks.

"We don't have enough rooms for-"

"We only need one." Xavier supplied. The guards tensed once again.

"We'll have guards show you to a room." The Queen stated. "Once you're all settled, I'd like for you to come have a chat with us, Lady…"

"Kelia." The young-looking alpha replied. "As you wish. Queen?"

"…Mary." The queen cleared her throat to cover the surprise in her voice. "And King Francis."


	2. Humans without humanity

"That man in the chair is not well." Annora, a younger wolf, about 7, who'd been in the pack for a little more than half her life, whispered to Kelia as they followed a guard to a room. Kelia gave a subtle nod and a look that suggested that that would be the end of the conversation. For now.

They all remained silent as they followed the guard, who'd been glancing back at them warily since they'd left the courtroom. There were three more guards behind the group. The wolves moved as non-threateningly as possible, but humans had instincts, though meager, and they could always sense the predator of werewolves before they even understood it. It was why wolves tended to stay away from largely human areas. They were often persecuted for the simple fact that humans were scared and didn't know why.

Eventually, they reached the room. The wolves hurriedly packed themselves into the more than generous room and waited patiently for the guards to disperse before becoming more relaxed. Kelia moved immediately to the large bed and placed the feverish little wolf in the middle and on top of the ridiculous number of pillows. She tucked her in even more. She'd be hot and uncomfortable, but it would be good for her.

"Get healthy fast, little wolf." Kelia mumbled to her. "I fear we will not be welcome or safe here for long."

xXx

Kelia looked over wolves scattered carelessly around the room. The pack was sleeping soundly. The tiny wolf had been given some soup which had lulled her into some space of calm finally. Most of the children had joined the sick child in bed. Their presence would help her feel safe and the bigger and older wolves had taken other available places. A few were in the windowsills or laid out on the convenient sofas and others were simply on the floor, curled into one another. Normally they would all sleep at once, but Kelia could hear the queen's, and her guards', footsteps several halls away but intending to land here.

Kelia made her way to the door and out of it without waking up her wolves, something she knew wouldn't be possible if Queen Mary arrived at a closed door. There were announcements and knocking to be had. With the stress of the new wolf and being thrown into this new environment, they deserved peaceful sleep while they still could. Kelia adjusted her skirts and paid close attention to her posture as she waited and when the queen rounded a corner not too far from their door, she met her with a kind smile.

"Queen Mary," Kelia spoke softly and curtsied, "I expected you'd be visiting. The rest of my party is resting. I hope you wouldn't mind if we went somewhere else as not to disturb them."

Mary didn't say anything. She looked between the young girl and the door a few times before nodding and waving off her guards. She began walking and Kelia assumed she was to follow. There were no words exchanged but Kelia remained calm as long as Mary did. Eventually they ended up in what seemed to be an unoccupied room.

"Your seal is real." Mary began without preface or pleasantry. "We just don't quite know what it means."

"We will be out of your hair in no time, Queen Mary. We need only a couple days." Kelia insisted. She didn't want to go into details with royals who weren't aware of her…peculiarities. That never ended well, and she only needed shelter for a small time. In the future she'd have to find safe houses for her wolves. Being at the mercy of royals was always less than pleasant.

"That was certainly not the explanation I was looking for." Mary's posture straightened. Kelia choked back a laugh the human girl's attempt to look imposing. It wasn't the French queen's fault that the girl half her age was more than three times as deadly.

"My seal is real." Kelia reminded. "I am who I claim to be-"

"Well that's the thing, _young lady_, you haven't claimed to be anyone." Mary was growing less patient by the second. "A girl with dark skin, all of eleven," Kelia was a little stunned by that comment. She was sure she looked at least twelve. "walks into court with the seal of a noble, a royal even, but no one has ever heard of you."

"Well…" Kelia thought that summed it up pretty well.

"You seemed to be in trouble and bore some credentials, but Francis and I can only be so accommodating-"

"I haven't asked for much-"

"We're only going to allow a stranger to be under our roof for so long."

Kelia was secretly furious, but she kept her composure. She'd done favors for the previous royals and been treated with less than she deserved. Asking to stay for a few days, was barely a fraction of the payment she was owed when she'd risked her life and those of her wolves for a king's petty win. She'd never made that mistake again, nor would she, but that did not mean that she was not still owed. Still, Mary was not aware of this, nor was it her blood that held the debt. Kelia had to work to get her wolf to calm down. Scaring the new queen would only make this worse.

"Though I feel you are being unreasonable," Kelia said with forced calm, "I understand your concern, considering your situation."

"My situation?"

_Your dying husband._

"As you have said," Kelia decided not to answer the queen's question, "the little girl is in trouble. Would it not for her, I would have preferred to never step foot in this castle ever again. However, I am owed."

"Owed by whom?" Mary asked clasping her hands in front of her.

"The previous king." Kelia said simply. "So, if this conversation is to be had, I would prefer to have it with the new king and his mother present."

"Francis is very busy-"

"Francis is very sick." Kelia would play games with her no more. "Dying. His blood owes the debt, he will settle it. I am asking for little compared to what is owed. Once he knows the full truth, I am sure this will all be very clear."

Kelia had heard Mary's heart speed up once the word "sick" had been thrown into the air. The younger-looking girl could tell that the Queen wanted to deny, wanted to spit out excuses and falsities about what was _really_ going on but Kelia had neither patience nor the time to waste with blatant lies. The look she gave Mary communicated that. Mary gripped her hands a little tight, straightened her shoulders, and gave a resolute nod.

xXx

It hadn't taken too long before Francis, Mary, and Kelia were walking down the dungeon to see the infamous Queen Catherine.

Kelia had remembered her from their brief encounter so many years ago. She was the epitome of human regality. She stood straight, head held high, and covered in jewels from crown to boot. Kelia wasn't ashamed to say she had been amazed by her. That was before the uppity queen had opened her mouth, of course. Before she'd insulted Kelia for being a "beast", she insulted her for being "dirt-skinned". Kelia's skin resembled tree bark at best. Catherine had been lightly reprimanded by her husband who had then asked the wolf a favor in exchange for a ridiculous amount in coin and jewels. Kelia had asked for not even half the amount in food reserves and a favor for the future. She had received no food reserves and she hadn't wanted to collect on the favor after the treatment.

Fighting in human battles had never been a wolf pleasure or want. Kelia had protected the King and Queen specifically from internal dangers and been tossed aside as if she hadn't even been there at all. The previous king and queen wouldn't be alive without her and they hadn't even bothered to thank her for that, only criticized that she'd been messy and animalistic. The halls to the dungeon seemed endless and the more steps she took the more her wolf rattled at its cage at the thought of getting its claws into that disrespectful wench. The more steps she took, the more she considered letting her wolf have its way.

Once they reached the door, Francis dismissed the guard outside of it. The young king looked weaker with every step. He went in first and Kelia could hear his mother spout love and affection. Mary followed moving in and to Francis' left leaving a clear view of Kelia. Once Catherine finished sucking up to her son, her eyes landed on Kelia and she tensed so hard that Mary flinched. Francis might have as well, if he'd had the strength.

"What is _she _doing here?" Catherine looked frantically between her son and his wife. "Why have you let her in?!"

"Mother," Francis said softly, "you know her?"

"Clearly she does." Kelia answered for the queen. Kelia had brought her hands in front of her clasping them gently in front of her lap. The longer she stood there, the harder she squeezed.

"She says she is owed Catherine." Mary took a couple steps forward. "What did you and Henry do?"

"This monster is owed nothing!" Catherine spit out. "You are lucky we let you live."

"Catherine," Kelia warned, "you should be more cautious with your words."

"How dare you address-"

Kelia moved faster than any of the royals could process. She had Catherine's throat in her hands, and the older queen against the wall with bone rattling force. Her claws extended, and her eyes were glowing their unique purple. Kelia could here noise behind her as Franics attempted to intervene and nearly fell to the ground from moving to quickly. Mary was trying to get him back on his feet.

"I should've let you die." Kelia ground out between her fangs. "You dare use my gifts for sport and then insult them in the next breath. I should've never trusted humans. You are vile liars and pompous fools."

Catherine's eyes were wide, and her mouth was as well as she attempted to gasp in air. Kelia never enjoyed causing people to feel fear but if fear would get her respect and decency, she would do what she had to do. The Wolf Queen squeezed just a bit tighter before dropping Catherine altogether. There was a loud intake of breath and when she turned to face the younger king and queen, Alexander and Xavier were standing between her and them.

Kelia walked to stand between her two alphas. Their eyes were glowing a soft red. Mary was under Francis's protective arm trying not to look as terrified as the three wolves could scent. Kelia's fangs and claws receded. The Royal Alpha straightened her shoulders and presented a little composure.

"All I ask is for shelter for no more than a week." Kelia's anger may have shown through her words a little. "You should be inclined to give it to me, no matter the condition of your house. I will no longer beg and plead with you. Feel free to decline, but know that one day, you will regret it." Mary looked a little terrified. Francis, however, had a much better game face.

"I recognize that you are owed," The king began in his raspy voice.

"Francis!" both the former and current queen exclaimed nearly in unison.

"You are welcome to take shelter as long as you need as long as you are civil." Francis finished, ignoring the two human women.

"Civil," Kelia scoffed as she headed out of the dungeon with her alphas trailing closely behind, "as if humans know what civil means."


End file.
